Here’s how impact investing can change the world

The author advocates for a standardized framework for impact investing to prevent 'impact washing' and scale the market. By establishing clear, measurable outcomes, the goal is to shift the market from being dominated by development institutions to including large-scale institutional investors, thereby helping to close the funding gap for the Sustainable Development Goals.

• The impact investing market, comprising private equity and specialty bonds like green bonds, grew fivefold between 2013 and 2017, reaching a global value of $228 billion in 2017.
• The current impact investing market is dominated by development financial institutions and specialist fund managers, who account for 75% of the market, while asset managers make up the remaining 25%.
• A lack of common principles for impact-management systems leads to confusion between labels such as 'sustainable,' 'responsible,' and 'impact investing,' and increases the risk of 'impact washing,' where funds are described as impact vehicles without verification of their societal benefits.
• Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires an estimated $7 trillion annually, with $4 trillion of that needed for Emerging Markets, necessitating the mobilization of private capital through impact investing.
• The IFC has introduced draft principles to standardize impact investing across the entire investment lifecycle—from strategy and origination to portfolio management and exit—with the goal of announcing final principles and signatories in spring 2019.

APA

Le Houérou, P. (2018). Here’s how impact investing can change the world. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/sustainable-development/here-s-how-impact-investing-can-change-the-world/

Chicago

Le Houérou, Philippe. Here’s how impact investing can change the world. World Economic Forum, 2018. https://www.weforum.org/stories/sustainable-development/here-s-how-impact-investing-can-change-the-world/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Le Houérou |first1=Philippe |title=Here’s how impact investing can change the world |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=22 October 2018 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/sustainable-development/here-s-how-impact-investing-can-change-the-world/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{lehourou2018heres, author = {Le Houérou, Philippe}, title = {{Here’s how impact investing can change the world}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2018}, month = oct, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/sustainable-development/here-s-how-impact-investing-can-change-the-world/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }